Beyond the lofty pledges made by politicians during election campaigns, public officials must now confront harsh reality. During their campaigns, some candidates promised to provide 300 free units to impoverished homes. Others promised their fans that they would build millions of houses.
PML-N leaders acted like modern monarchs, asking their courtiers what they wanted and promising to fulfill their demands right now. Everything was promised, including airports, universities, medical colleges, and highways.
But no one cared to explain how they would complete these difficult duties given the IMF’s and other monetary institutions’ tough rules, which Pakistan must adhere to.
No messiah from the political elite discussed an exit route from the vicious spiral of foreign and internal debt, which is the greatest burden on the national budget. No leader notified the public about how much money would be left in the budget after debt repayment, defense spending, and payments to independent power producers (IPPs).
Following the acceptance of IMF requirements intended to boost the autonomy of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), all governments have been foolishly borrowing from private banks. Following a tremendous growth in external debt that has already reached the $130 billion mark, the country is now facing an increase in domestic borrowings that would have major ramifications for the economy, but no party appears to have an exit strategy from these vicious borrowings.
Despite the country’s budgetary restrictions, the PML-N kept promising to develop more highways, flyovers, and other projects that mostly benefited party leaders and their allies.
The PPP’s election campaigns were likewise fascinating to follow. PPP leaders used pro-people rhetoric that fooled no one. People have seen how party officials’ and their families’ assets have grown dramatically over the last 15 years.
The PPP may not have a single MPA or MNA who is not living in money and luxury, but Sindh, where the party has controlled for more than 15 years, remains in disarray. Millions of homeless people, legions of unemployed young people, and a battalion of starving women await help from their government.
The PPP did make some positive adjustments to the healthcare system, but nothing more.
In its election campaigns, the PTI promised that it will enhance the economy by expanding the tax base, modernizing agriculture, and improving industry, in addition to increasing tourism. The party also stated that it would increase social spending from the current 1.0% to 3.0% of GDP.
However, serious questions should follow the ‘party of change’. The PTI vowed to serve the people, yet in 2018, the government exacerbated their misery. How did the increase in drug prices benefit low-income patients? How did the Rawalpindi Ring Road affair benefit them? Did the PTI manage to enhance literacy by creating new schools?How many universities were set up during the PTI’s rule? Did anyone notice a reduction in children and women’s malnourishment? These are important questions that the party of change will have to ponder over.
What has been done cannot be undone. Politicians should now move beyond bluster and focus on the numerous issues confronting the country. The Taliban insurgency is rearing its hideous head again. Terrorist groups launched hundreds of strikes during the last two years, targeting both law enforcement and ordinary individuals. The Islamic State-Khorasan is also restructuring, establishing pockets of control in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Some fragmented groups of the disbanded TTP are thought to be operational.
Political parties will have to work together to develop a realistic plan to combat the threat of terrorism. Only force will not suffice. The political leaders will have to learn from the devastation of Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Sudan.
All of these regimes funded proxies, and the policy of developing non-state actors backfired on them. Today, these states appear to be disintegrating. They all appear to have fallen into the depths of chaos and disorder.
The employment of proxies as a tool of foreign policy has already caused irreparable harm to our country. Pakistan, which had no drug addicts in the 1960s, now has a huge problem with substance usage. People have almost unlimited access to fatal weaponry. This was all due to our engagement in the Afghan Jihad, which contributed to the development of the TTP, an organization responsible for the deaths of over 30,000 Pakistanis as well as billions of dollars in infrastructural damage.
Politicians had a wonderful opportunity to normalize relations with India during Imran Khan’s reign, when the country’s strong quarters seemed open to the notion of engaging archrival India, but Imran Khan disregarded the idea arrogantly.
A large country, such as the USSR, could not endure after investing billions of dollars in an unproductive sector. So, how can a country like Pakistan, with a much lower industrial growth rate than the Soviet Union, afford an arms race? Such a race may be significantly reduced by normalizing relations with India in a respectful manner. The restoration of trust between the two countries may transform Pakistan into a true regional center, allowing the country to earn billions of dollars in transit alone.
If democracy has to take firm roots, politicians will have to pledge not to rely on non-democratic forces to come into power. All political parties should get united to oppose the crackdown on political forces. Celebrating undeclared bans on fellow politicians is an imprudent approach, which must be abandoned. They need to respect each other’s mandate and people’s will. They must devise a code of ethics that forbids them to resort to character assassination. It should be political programmes rather than leaders and their families which should be the subject of their debates and arguments.
They should also summon enough courage to openly admit their defeat. Khawaja Saad Rafique, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar and some other politicians have set a good precedent by admitting their defeats and respecting people’s will. Nawaz Sharif should also admit that the policy of appeasing the powers that be did not work. It rather destroyed the political capital of the PML-N.
